


Right Here Waiting

by Darthelwig



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:27:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26005675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darthelwig/pseuds/Darthelwig
Summary: The universe brought them together, then the Sokovia Accords tore them apart. Wanda and Vision need to make their way back to each other and find their happiness.
Relationships: Wanda Maximoff/Vision
Comments: 46
Kudos: 20





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I see this story as the universe Spent could be taking place in. I have no real idea where I'm going with it right now, but I've decided to just post what I've got and see what happens.

“Right Here Waiting”

Chapter One

By Darthelwig

++++

Vision ran his hand over her chest and down to rest on her bare stomach. Wanda smiled at him as she lay there, completely unabashed by her nudity before her lover as he gazed at her lovingly, but concerned.

“Are you sure you’re ready to go on this mission?” he asked her for the hundredth time. “Lagos is a very long way away, and I won’t be there to assist you should you need me.” She studied him closely, noting the worry lines around his eyes and at the corners of his mouth. She fiddled with the engagement ring on her finger as she considered how to answer.

“It’s just another mission,” she said. “We’ve been on plenty, and Steve, Nat, and Sam are all going to be there. What are you worried about?” She watched him struggle to put his thoughts into words, something that didn’t happen often.

“I just... have a terrible feeling,” he admitted. Wanda cupped his cheek, her thumb rubbing soothing circles over his skin.

“It’s gonna be okay, Vis. I’ll be back before you know it.”

His gaze pinned her with its sudden intensity as he stared into her eyes. “I am aware of every moment we are apart,” he told her, and her breath caught at the emotion in his voice. “This time will be no different.” He tempered his words with a smile now. “I tolerate it because it’s who you are, and these are the lives we lead, but never doubt how much I miss you every time you are away.”

They leaned in at the same time, loving kisses quickly becoming heated, and Wanda moaned as his hand cupped her breast and gently squeezed.

“Show me how much you’ll miss me,” she said breathlessly, and he spent the rest of the evening doing just that.

++++

She wished she’d listened to Vision and never gone to Lagos.

The guilt was eating away at her, and she couldn’t help it, but she’d been rejecting Vision’s advances of comfort and affection since her return. How could she let him comfort her? How could she accept anything good like that into her life when she’d done something so terrible? She didn’t deserve it. She could only hope he understood it wasn’t about rejecting _him_ , never _him_ , but she couldn’t bring herself to let him in or offer him any sort of reassurance. She just wanted to sink into a hole and never emerge again.

It didn’t help her temper to be so separated from him. Even though they’d been keeping their relationship a secret, something just for the two of them, she’d come to rely on it and him so heavily. Her entire world felt off-kilter, and she could tell she was becoming snappish and rude with everyone around her, but she couldn’t care enough to stop. She couldn’t let herself reach for him again.

He must’ve been distracted, phasing into her room midday, without warning. They’d talked about it before, how it would look to the others if he felt so free to enter her personal space. They’d decided to remain outwardly friends if nothing else, yet there he was, standing in her room while Steve sat on her bed.

“Vis, we talked about this,” she reminded him slightly angrily. The rebuke in her entire posture and voice hurt him, she could see it in the way he pulled back, became more formal and impersonal, and she hated herself even more for putting that look on his face. He hid it well, but she knew him better than anyone. She’d hurt him. She was terrible.

He held a seat for her at their meeting with Secretary Ross, though, his heart ever true and forgiving, and while she didn’t acknowledge it out loud, she did give him a slight smile. A silent apology. He smiled in return, if a bit awkward and stiff, and it soothed her.

It was just as well he’d placed himself so close to her. After Ross’ presentation, she needed the solid comfort of his presence. Her fingers itched to toy with the ring hanging heavily around her neck on its long chain, hidden in her dress. It had become something of a nervous habit for her, but she forced herself to keep her hands still. Focusing on that helped.

Her knees felt like jelly when the team moved into the living area to continue their discussion on the Accords. Misgivings aside, she sat next to Vision, needing his closeness. She wanted to throw herself into his arms, but she placed her hands in her lap and sat as still as she could, just wanting this to be over, wishing for a time machine so she could change everything.

It was just as well they were with the team when Vision explained his views on oversight and causality, though. She had no idea what to say in response and no idea how to feel. She didn’t even understand why, but his words stung. Could she blame him, though? His logic made sense, and he understood these things far better than she did.

Still, she stayed quiet and unresponsive, and when it came time to leave, she went her separate way.

++++

Vision had always been too good to her, from the very beginning, always caring for her and taking the time to do nice things for her. Still...

She slowly approached while he cooked Paprikash for her, touched by the gesture and uncomfortably aware of his ring hanging around her neck. She hadn’t worn it properly since before their mission in Lagos, and she regretted that now.

He allowed her into his space so easily, even with the distance she’d put between them, and she was acutely aware of his nearness. Her body ached to touch him, but she held herself still with an iron will as she settled for tasting what he’d prepared for her. It wasn’t _good_ , but it was sweet of him, and she loved him all the more for it.

His attempt to cheer her up actually worked, though, and she found herself laughing along with him. Her lovely fiancé, the man she loved more than anything else, broke through the ice around her heart and she found herself desperately yearning to let him in again.

Then he put his arm out to stop her from leaving, and her heart broke at the betrayal.

“And what do _you_ want?” she asked him bitterly.

“For people to see you, as I do,” he replied, ever sincere, but his betrayal burned, and she affixed him with a cold stare before simply turning on her heel and walking away. She had nothing else to say to him.

She broke down once she reached her room, hot tears spilling down her cheeks. Sobs wracked her body, and she tore his ring from around her neck and threw it across the room. It was choking her anyway.

++++

Later, she was grateful she’d done so. As soldiers locked her up and took her away, the man she’d wanted as her future husband too distracted by his accidental injuring of Rhodey to notice, she thanked a god she no longer believed in that they couldn’t take away that symbol of their love. Even as she felt betrayed and alone, she knew she loved him and he loved her. He would eventually find the ring, and she knew he would keep it safe, even if they never saw each other again, which was looking more and more likely as she saw where they were being shipped off to. This wasn’t a temporary holding place. Not for her. She knew what the Accords said for people like her, enhanced who broke the law and used their powers unlawfully. She would never see the outside world again.

This would be her home for the rest of her life, and she had known that was a possibility even as she’d hoped for better.

The straight jacket and shock collar came as a complete surprise, but she should’ve expected it, she supposed. Like Vis had said, they couldn’t help but fear her. Wanda Maximoff had powers they didn’t understand. Wanda Maximoff was dangerous. Wanda Maximoff would spend the rest of her life barely able to move, and as her new reality sank in, her will to go on began to fade.


	2. Chapter 2

“Right Here Waiting”

Chapter Two

By Darthelwig

++++

Vision needed her back. It felt like forever since he’d been close to her, and it truly had been too long. Every minute since her return from Lagos, every moment she pulled away from him in an attempt to punish herself for her perceived wrong, was an eternity. He clenched his jaw at the sensationalist news coverage, at all the people rabidly jumping on the chance to tear her down in their hate and ignorance. He fought hard to retain his forgiveness and empathy for those hideous examples of humanity, even as his gut twisted with every terrible thing that was said about the woman he loved.

He could only imagine what watching this news coverage was doing to Wanda, could only imagine because she refused to let him close, refused to talk to him. But he knew she was tearing herself apart, and it was killing him to not be able to help her. He wished she would let _someone_ in, but she stubbornly refused any comfort. It wasn’t until the day of Secretary Ross’ visit that she accepted any sort of commiseration at all.

He wished it was him that she’d allowed in, selfishly became jealous of Captain Rogers for being the one she turned to, but he did his best to banish the emotion. He should be happy she received any comfort at all, and he was, truly. It still stung, though.

She allowed him to keep her close during their meetings, and he counted that as a win. The small smile she offered him gave him hope that perhaps the end of the distance between them would come sooner rather than later. Respecting her wish for distance was becoming harder with each passing day, and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to respect her wishes much longer, honestly. Soon enough his resolve would break.

He attempted to please her with Paprikash, and it was good for a little while. She laughed with him, and his heart lightened. But it came crashing down when he revealed his role in keeping her confined to the compound. In retrospect, he should’ve gone against Mr. Stark’s instructions to keep it a secret from Wanda and just been honest with her from the beginning. Hadn’t they promised to be honest, always? That was the way they worked best, with open communication between them, but she’d been closed off for so long that he’d felt safer keeping it quiet, and his cowardly actions had driven her further away.

He couldn’t fault her for taking action against him when she decided to leave with Clint. He’d done the duty he’d committed to, and she fought for her freedom. He couldn’t fault her for that. He spent a lot of time after that reflecting on his own actions, and the reasons behind them. Maybe he wanted to keep her safe, but maybe he also just wanted to keep her and keep her close. He had to admit his own selfishness, and regret burned in his chest. He missed her terribly.

It was instinct to go to her when she fell in battle to Rhodey’s sonic cannons. Anger flashed through him at the fact that Rhodey had hurt her. She trembled in his arms, unable to sit up, barely able to focus, but he took the opportunity to apologize. He couldn’t pass it up. She needed to hear how sorry he was. And his heart soared as she apologized as well, as her eyes sought his and he saw the regret there. She loved him still, he could see it written plainly on her face.

He wanted to tell her he loved her. The words were on the tip of his tongue, but Rhodey interrupted, and in his annoyance and impatience to be done with it, he made a terrible mistake.

His second mistake of the day was leaving Wanda’s side. When he looked for her again, she was already gone.

++++

He was going insane, not knowing where she was. Mr Stark had been tight lipped on the subject, no matter how many times he asked. He was frustrated with the situation, angry with himself and Mr. Stark. He took matters into his own hands and hacked every government database until he found her.

When he found the security feeds from the prison, he discovered rage.

His beautiful Wanda, his love, bound and caged, the light gone from her eyes. She was a corpse, her skin sallow, face sunken like a skull. In that moment, he decided what he had to do. It wasn’t even up for debate.

Hacking into Mr. Stark’s databases was straightforward enough for him. He searched for any information that might be helpful in locating his missing teammates. It was Mr. Stark’s surprising video logs of Siberia that revealed the clue he needed. A quick flash of a face reflected in glass told him where he might find them.

He left the compound, sure no one would notice. Mr. Stark was preoccupied with Colonel Rhodes’ recovery. He wouldn’t be gone long enough to raise any suspicion. He flew as fast as he could for Wakanda.

His synthezoid abilities allowed him to find the way into their hidden city. The fact that his entry raised alarms didn’t concern him. He would be at his destination before that would matter. The search was longer than he’d expected, the Wakandan technology made it harder for him, but he managed to avoid any real problems before he found them, in some sort of medical area.

Captain Rogers was instantly on the offensive, but Vision raised his hands in peace as he phased through the wall.

“I am not here to harm you,” he said quickly. Weapons were being aimed at him, but the king motioned for his guards to hold, and Vision was grateful for the chance to speak. “I am here to help.”

Captain Rogers seemed to sense his sincerity, and even though he was visibly surprised, he seemed willing to accept his words at face value. Vision was grateful for their leader’s understanding nature. He needed this badly. “Why exactly are you here?” Captain Rogers asked.

“I wish to assist in the rescue of our teammates from the Raft prison,” Vision stated plainly. Captain Rogers considered him for what felt like an uncomfortably long time, but he eventually nodded.

“Okay,” he said. “Your help will make this a lot easier.”

++++

It was decided that Vision’s assistance would be limited to helping them infiltrate the Raft. He could create a signal that would convince the prison to surface and let them on. Captain Rogers would take it from there.

Until Agent Romanoff showed up out of the blue and offered her help as well. Vision felt more comfortable knowing she would be there to watch the Captain’s back. This was a large mission to attempt with one person, super soldier or not. Agent Romanoff would even the odds quite a bit.

Vision stayed longer than was strictly safe to aid in the planning, but he refused to leave before it was done. He had to be sure Wanda would be free. He ignored the strange looks being shot his way when they thought he wasn’t looking. Nothing mattered but Wanda’s safety. He didn’t care what anyone thought.

He timed his return to the compound very carefully, wary of being caught and questioned. He’d been gone too long, but no one seemed to have noticed. That bothered him, but he accepted it.

Time crawled as he waited for the prearranged time for the prison break. He tried to busy himself with tidying his room, but there wasn’t enough in it to distract him from his thoughts. Instead, he went to Wanda’s room, let himself be immersed in the scent and feel of her that still permeated the space. A glint caught his eye and he kneeled down to find her engagement ring where she must’ve discarded it before. The sight of it so carelessly thrown to the floor hurt badly, but he refused to be upset with her, refused to be angry. He’d hurt her, and she’d had every right.

He pocketed the ring, hoping she would perhaps want it back one day. Suddenly the room felt too small, claustrophobic, something he’d never experienced before. Instead he retreated to the living area, twirling a chess piece between his fingers, attempting to hide the tension that filled him but failing badly. He was thankful he’d been left alone. Mr. Stark would’ve immediately known something was wrong. He couldn’t help it, though. His entire being was focused on the mission, on _Wanda_ , and as the time for the prison break came and went, he waited in tense silence for word of how things had gone.

When he finally received the phone call it was just one word, but it made all the difference.

“Safe.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Right Here Waiting”

Chapter Three

By Darthelwig

++++

Wanda woke to a new world. She was weak, frustratingly so, but she was free and her team was there, with one very notable exception, and she breathed deeply of the air she’d despaired of ever experiencing again.

“You came for us,” she said hoarsely. Steve smiled at her.

“Of course I did,” he told her. “I’d never leave my team behind.”

Tears welled up in her eyes, slid freely down her cheeks, and she buried her face in her hands as a sob tore through her. Steve put an arm around her shoulders and held her as she cried it out. He only left when Sam called him away, and Natasha took his place at her side, though she kept her hands to herself.

“You know,” Nat said, “Vision helped us.” Wanda’s head shot up, and she found the other woman looking at her knowingly. “He sought Steve out, was very adamant about helping break you all out. I didn’t know he cared about _Sam_ so much.”

Wanda’s face went red, Natasha’s obviously accurate reading of the situation too much for her frazzled nerves to take.

“I don’t know what’s going on between you two,” Nat continued, “but I thought you’d want to know he didn’t leave you there.”

“Thank you,” Wanda rasped.

“I’ll keep my observations to myself,” Nat told her. “It’s nobody’s business.”

Wanda nodded, grateful for the support. Fresh tears slid down her cheeks as she thought about Vision, missing him fiercely. One hand pressed over her aching heart, she leaned forward and simply tried to breathe. She jumped when Nat placed something in her free hand, and saw it was a phone. She looked up at Nat questioningly.

“His number is programmed in. Don’t tell Steve I gave that to you.” Natasha winked at her and stood up to leave.

“Thank you,” Wanda told her. It didn’t seem like enough, but it was all she had. Nat gave her a genuine smile in return before walking away to join Steve and Sam. Wanda looked down at the phone, her lifeline to Vision, and felt hope blossom.

++++

It took forever for her to find sufficient privacy to use her gift from Natasha, and she pressed the button to call him with shaky hands. It rang once, twice, and then his voice was in her ear, and she found herself crying yet again.

“Vis?” she barely managed to say around the lump in her throat. Someone else might not have heard her, but he did.

“ _Wanda_ ,” he said, relief coloring his voice.

“It-it’s me,” she said uselessly.

“Are you alright? Are you safe?” he asked. She heard the real question in his voice. _Do you need me?_

“Yes,” she said, answering both the spoken and unspoken.

“I’ll come to you,” he told her.

“Not yet,” she said. “I’ll call you when it’s time.” He was silent for a while.

“I miss you,” he said finally, and she smiled even as tears continued to fall.

“I miss you too.”

They didn’t stay on the phone after that, but the promise of seeing him again lightened the pain in her heart.

++++

She couldn’t stand still as she waited for Vision to arrive. He’d told her to wait for him at the train station, so here she was, but she had no idea how he was going to meet her here, surrounded by people. He’d stick out like a sore thumb, and she definitely couldn’t afford that kind of attention, but she trusted him and she would take this chance, even as her skin crawled with unease.

She pressed herself back against the wall as the next train arrived and the crowd thickened with departing passengers. Most of them paid her no attention, none but a tall, blonde man who approached her with purpose. Her body was in instant fight or flight mode until she realized what she was seeing, _who_ she was seeing.

“Vis?” she asked incredulously as he stopped before her. He was here and he looked...human. How could he look so human?

But it really was him. The way he ducked his head, the shy smile on his face, it was her Vision standing before her.

“Hello, Wanda,” he said, and it was his _voice_ too. The last of her doubt vanished, and she threw her arms around him. He wrapped his arm around her too, and she took comfort in the solid strength of him pressed against her.

“How?” she asked him, gazing into his face with wonder.

“Not here,” he said with a rueful smile. She could only nod in agreement, her words stolen by the utter impossibility of what she was seeing. He slipped his hand into hers and it felt so familiar. She took comfort in that.

They didn’t speak again until they were in the swanky hotel room Vision had gotten. He released her hand when they entered the room, moving away, putting distance between them.

“Vision?” she asked, the unspoken _why_ heavy between them.

“I just...” he began, wringing his hands. “Wanda, can you ever forgive me?” He looked distraught and her heart ached.

“Vis-” she began.

“I understand if that will take time, or if you can’t forgive me at all-”

“Vis!” she said, stopping him short. She closed the distance between them slowly, as if he would bolt at any second, and she wasn’t altogether convinced he wouldn’t. He stood unnaturally still, letting her approach. “Vis... you _saved_ me,” she told him.

“What they’d done to you wasn’t right. I couldn’t let that stand,” he said, ducking his head slightly. “It doesn’t change what I did.”

“Vis,” Wanda said, and when she put a hand on his arm he started as if he hadn’t realized she was so close. “Vis, I’m sorry too.” She could feel the tension in him under her fingers, and she reached up to tangle her fingers in the hair he’d somehow created for himself. “I’ve missed you,” she said softly.

“And I’ve missed you,” he told her.

She was sick of holding back, sick of missing him, sick of being apart. She threw herself into his arms and he caught her, as he always did, his strong arms holding her close as their lips connected. He picked her up easily, walked her back to the bed with her legs wrapped around him and the heat of her core teasing them both as his movements brought her into contact with the erection tenting his pants.

They both moaned as he lowered her to the bed and gave a sharp thrust of his hips, grinding himself hard against her as they kissed passionately.

“Stop. Stop,” Wanda said breathlessly between kisses, pulling his head back. Confusion and a touch of worry filled his eyes, and she gave him a reassuring smile. “As attractive as your disguise is, Vis, can you take it off? I want to be with _you_.”

He smiled and she watched in amazement as his features melted into the familiar colors she loved so much. She traced the lines of his face with awe.

“Incredible,” she said. Then she pulled him into a kiss and let her desire take over.


End file.
